Port Sunlight

by T. Raffles Davison

J. L. SIMPSON,
Architect.

37. THE GIRLS’ CLUB.

The full-page Plates [3] to [27] give an idea of the road views and the relation of the houses to them, with their perspective effects in straight or winding lines of frontage, with quadrangular recesses as in Pls. [11] and [20], or where the L-shaped blocks of cottages leave a good open space as in Pl. [9]. The sturdy tower of Christ Church is a telling feature at the end of the Causeway (see Pl. [13]), and the picturesque pavilion roof with its clever tiling makes a telling feature at the junction of the Causeway with Greendale Road. It is hard to imagine anything more delightful in the early spring or autumn than the Greendale Road where it approaches the post office, with the peeps of the buildings through the tall poplars. The view towards the post office in both directions (Pls. [3] and [7]) are equally pleasing. Nothing shows better the good qualities of an Old English half-timber building than such a setting. There is hardly anything in the village which comes back on one with such recurring charm as the row of five gables in the Park Road cottages shown in Pls. [5] and [14]. In Pl. [5] we see something of the delightful result of the continuous sloping banks from the road up to the cottage, and a certain picturesque irregularity where the old hawthorn bushes which formerly existed have been left at intervals. This vertical timber framing has a simple breadth of effect which is well shown in Pls. [4], [5], and [14]. It would be difficult to do justice to Greendale Road with its continuous line of 97 cottages, which form a picture of great variety and interest as viewed from the passing trains, and give us a long perspective of trees and houses, broken at the point of view of our sketch (Pl. [15]) by the half-timber group of cottages which is an exact replica of the design of Kenyon Old Hall. This delightful group is also shown in Pl. [20]. There is nothing more satisfactory in proportion and colour than the recessed group of cottages which fronts the Diamond in the Queen Mary’s Drive. The yellow-grey stone slates, the red brick chimneys, the white rough cast, dark boarding, and robust half-timber work in the flanking gables, make up a picture of colour and texture which is most satisfactory (Pl. [2]). The cottages here have the advantage of a raised terrace bounded by a stone wall. One of the nearest approaches to the charm of an old English village is probably the L-shaped group of cottages in Bath Street (see Pl. [9]). A photograph of the Dell has been taken to show one of the natural features which has been turned to so good an account in the village (see Pl. [10]). The cottages looking over the roadways surrounding the Dell have delightful outlooks over here. Our view was taken in the winter, so as to show something of the bridge and houses. The stone bridge at the end of the Dell is an excellent architectural feature (see Nos. [1] and [2]), and groups with remarkably good result below the Lyceum buildings.

No illustrative account of Port Sunlight could be considered complete without some reference to Christ Church, which is a central and interesting feature. Its solidly built red stone walls and stone slated roof, and its finely appointed interior with a wealth of enriched oak timber work, commands one’s attention whether as architect or layman. It speaks of strength and endurance and a sincere love and study of our traditional English Gothic. Its value is sufficiently apparent both from the social and the artistic point of view. In one respect, however, this church may claim a special distinction, for at its western end has been erected a richly detailed narthex, with a vaulted roof, forming a shrine for a beautiful sculptured memorial to the late Lady Lever. Both in idea and execution, this forms a striking and touching memorial to a gracious lady whose kindliness of heart endeared her to all. Children were her special friends, and this is reflected in the two charming figures of children at one end of the sarcophagus. Sir Goscombe John, the sculptor, has never been more successful than in this tenderly and gracefully modelled reclining figure of Lady Lever. This vaulted porch, with its richly carved bosses (on one of which are painted the arms of Sir William), largely enhances the value of the memorial sarcophagus itself, which is one of the most satisfactory of recent years. The illustration of the interior (see Pl. [33]) is from a large drawing exhibited by the architect at the Royal Academy in 1916.

Our illustrations, in a general way, represent what may be taken to be the best examples of design in the village. They do not, of course, show all the best. In Pl. [28] we have a very good example of the quality of detail which lifts the work at Port Sunlight so far above the level of the ordinary speculative cottage building. Here we find carved oak beams and posts and brackets and barges, and an excellent piece of modelled plaster work in the gable. When it is remembered that this is no isolated example, we see how unusually liberal has been the hand that directed the outlay. Corners like the picturesque grouping of chimneys in No. [28], or the carved oak and modelled plaster in the corner gable (No. [9]), would not have existed in an industrial village had not the founder been imbued with a keen appreciation of architectural values. One would present a sketch proposal for such a type of cottages with some trepidation to the average building owner! One of the noticeable bits of rich detail is to be found in the Flamboyant and Gothic dormers in Pl. [27]. We have in No. [32] a delightful corner of half-timber building with a sweet little garden foreground. The old Cheshire type of half-timber work is tellingly expressed in the corner houses in Park Road (Pl. [16]). Other especially effective corners are seen in Nos. [11] and [27]. A contrast between Queen Anne brick gables and the half-timber house is effectively shown in No. [21]. Contrasting again with the richness of carved oak and modelled plaster in the more elaborate buildings, we come across delightfully simple designs, such as Nos. [15] and [17], which may some day very well pass for ancient buildings.

Amongst the conspicuously successful of recent groups is that of the parlour houses in Bolton Road (Pl. [21]), which has the advantage of a good setting on the front of a circular place. This only needs a terrace wall and some formal planting to make it one of the pictures of the village. What an enticing prospect opens up in the possibilities of formal evergreen planting amongst all these cottage homes!

It is with some feeling of regret that more sketches have not been given showing examples of interesting ornamental detail which lift the quality of these cottage homes so much above the ordinary level of industrial homes. But the limits of the volume place an inevitable check on one’s desires. If the author has been able to convey to his readers a tithe of the pleasure he has felt in the subject of this little book he will be amply rewarded.

38. AN EXAMPLE OF SIMPLE TREATMENT.